The joyful lake walks behind mighty heaven, as someone might tread on a tiger's tail and not be bitten. Lu is about conduct: moving carefully and courteously in a situation where you are weaker than the forces around you. Good manners, awareness of your place and a light, cheerful bearing let you pass through danger unharmed.
Judgment
履虎尾，不咥人，亨。
Treading on the tiger's tail, and it does not bite. Success.
Image
上天下澤，履；君子以辨上下，定民志。
Heaven above, lake below: treading. Taking this as a model, the noble one tells high from low and settles the people's aims.
- Careful conduct
- Courtesy in danger
- Knowing your place
- Grace under pressure
- Respect for power
- conduct
- caution
- courtesy
- tact
- awareness
- respect
- Tact and good conduct carry you through risky situations.
- Know where you stand relative to the powers around you.
- A light, sincere manner disarms threat.
The six lines
Lines are numbered from the bottom. In a reading, only the lines that are changing apply to your cast.
Line 1Nine at the beginning 初九
Line text
素履，往无咎。
Treading plainly. Going on: no blame.
Plain, unpretentious behavior at the start keeps you free of entanglement. Go your own way modestly, without ambition to climb.
- Simplicity
- Unpretentious beginnings
- Ambition that complicates things
- Moving freely by staying simple
Line 2Nine in the second place 九二
Line text
履道坦坦，幽人貞吉。
Treading a level, easy road. For a quiet recluse, steadfastness: good fortune.
Staying modest and independent, apart from the struggle for status, keeps your path level. Contentment with a quiet way is a strength.
- Quiet independence
- A level path
- Getting pulled into competition
- Peace through keeping to your own way
Line 3Six in the third place 六三
Line text
眇能視，跛能履，履虎尾，咥人，凶。武人為于大君。
Half-blind, thinking one can see; lame, thinking one can walk. Treading on the tiger's tail, one is bitten. Misfortune. So a soldier acts in the service of his great lord.
Overestimating your abilities in a dangerous situation leads to harm. Reckless confidence provokes exactly the force you should be careful of. Such daring is only fitting for a soldier carrying out orders in a cause greater than himself.
- Overconfidence
- Provoking danger
- Acting beyond your actual capacity
- An honest assessment of your limits
Line 4Nine in the fourth place 九四
Line text
履虎尾，愬愬終吉。
Treading on the tiger's tail, warily, warily. In the end, good fortune.
You are in a risky position but proceed with full awareness and respect. Careful, deliberate steps bring you through safely.
- Cautious progress
- Respect for risk
- Dropping your guard too early
- Success earned through careful steps
Line 5Nine in the fifth place 九五
Line text
夬履，貞厲。
Decisive treading. Steadfastness in danger.
Decisiveness is necessary, but rigid, self-assured insistence carries risk. Stay resolute while remaining aware of the danger.
- Resolute action
- Awareness of risk
- Rigidity mistaken for strength
- Firmness tempered by awareness
Line 6Nine at the top 上九
Line text
視履考祥，其旋元吉。
Look at the path walked and examine the signs. If it comes full circle: supreme good fortune.
At the end of the journey, review what you have done. If your conduct has been sound throughout, the results speak for themselves.
- Review and reflection
- Consequences of conduct
- Ignoring the lessons of the path
- Recognizing the good fruit of careful conduct
Related hexagrams
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Cast a readingChinese text: Zhouyi 周易 (received classical text). English rendering and notes: Site rendering. About our sources
Commentary
The image of treading on a tiger's tail is one of the most vivid in the book. A weaker party (the lake, joyful and yielding) follows behind a much stronger one (heaven). It survives not by strength but by tact, good humor and correct behavior. The reading may suggest that you are dealing with powerful people or forces and that the way you conduct yourself is what matters most.
The image speaks of distinctions between high and low, not as a defense of hierarchy for its own sake but as clarity about roles, which lets everyone settle. In relation to a question, Lu may emphasize courtesy, attentiveness and steady, principled behavior where a careless step could provoke harm.